NCAI's membership has been open to state and historic tribes since the 1970s.
The proposed amendment would have treated them differently than federally recognized tribes.

"The purpose of NCAI is to be a unified voice of tribal nations on the national level,"
Larry Townsend, the Southeast area vice president who is a member of the state-recognized Lumbee Tribe, told The Fayetteville Observer.

The amendment was rejected last Thursday, during NCAI's 69th annual convention in Sacramento, California.